Who’s The Most Evil Character On ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’?

If you watch It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia with any regularity, you know that its five principle characters are basically the worst people on the planet. I mean, they’re the best, but they’re the worst. Whereas the characters on Seinfeld were evil in a relatable way, The Gang at Paddy’s Pub is pretty much irredeemably despicable. But who takes the cake? Who’s the single most evil character on It’s Always Sunny? It’s a question that could be debated for days, but this ranking should get to the bottom of this question once and for all.

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5. Charlie

Let’s be honest, Charlie might have some questionable motives behind the things he does, but ultimately, he’s far too dumb to be truly evil. And in most episodes, his terrible decisions seem more like a product of the terrible people he surrounds himself with rather than being his own handiwork. Basically, he’s the George W. Bush of sitcom characters. Plus, unlike just about anyone else on the show, he’s capable of being good some times. Or at the very least, having good intentions. Finally, he’s the only member of the gang we actually feel sorry for from time to time. Like when the gang goes to the Jersey Shore, and he gets to spend a romantic night on the beach with the waitress, and then she wakes up assuming he drugged her. Rather than being truly rotten, poor Charlie is simply a hard luck case.

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4. Mac

Much like Charlie, Mac is basically an overgrown child, as his letter to Chase Utley clearly indicates. Beyond that, though, Mac is a bit more evil than his daft companion. We see this in just the second episode, when Mac attempts to seduce an anti-abortion protester by claiming to have murdered at least two doctors. Of course, Mac doesn’t seem self-aware enough to realize how awful he can be. We see this after his infamous “Big Mac” weight gain in 2011, specifically when he goes to confession in order to “confess” all the awful things the rest of the gang did to him. Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Mac seems to think he’s a good guy and the rest of the world is out to get him.

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3. Sweet Dee

Ok, now matter what Mac and Charlie might be capable of, the Reynolds family is where the vast majority of this show’s evilness resides. Dee isn’t quite as bad as the rest of her family, but she’s still pretty damn awful. As we know, she and Dennis are two of the most vain, superficial people you’ll ever meet. For Dee, this was never more clear than in “The Gang Wrestles For The Troops,” when she meets a soldier online, and then immediately ditches him when he sees him emerge in a wheelchair. This would be enough on its own, but later, we find out that he can actually walk just fine, so Dee decides to steal him back after setting him up with Artemis. Dee’s awfulness rarely drives the story, but it’s hard to deny. She would likely be the most narcissistic person in the world, if not for her brother. Which reminds me…

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2. Dennis

The D.E.N.N.I.S. System. That’s all you really need to know. Sure, we could talk about some of Dennis’s other evil deeds, but nothing gets to heart of Dennis’s awfulness like the D.E.N.N.I.S. system, his apparently foolproof method for getting girls. In case you for got, it goes like this:

Demonstrate value

Engage physically

Nurture Dependence

Neglect emotionally

Inspire hope

Separate entirely

Honestly, it’s a good thing Mac and Charlie couldn’t figure this out, because Dennis Reynolds is basically a sociopath. The only thing that makes him a little bit likable — or at least relatable — is that he’s so vain and insecure. Remember when Dee told him his face looked fat and he immediately stopped eating entirely? This is a deeply disturbed human being.

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1. Frank

The Trashman isn’t just the name of the wrestling persona Frank created for himself, it’s also as good a description of his personality as you can find. The man is just pure garbage, even by the depraved standards of everyone else at Paddy’s Pub. Remember, there was a point when everyone else was so grossed out by his behavior, they tried to hold an intervention for him. Yes, they screwed it up horrifically, but Frank’s awful behavior was the impetus nonetheless. Consider the events of “Thunder Gun Express.” Yes, everyone is evil in this episode, but Frank clearly takes the cake. Not only does he hijack a boat full of Japanese tourists (note: this might be the funniest scene in the history of the show), but when he gets to jail, he calls in a bomb threat to the movie theater just so no one else gets to see the movie either. While Dennis and Dee’s evil deeds were motivated by personal gain, Frank just wanted to ruin everyone else’s fun.

On a show full of rotten people, Frank Reynolds somehow managed to be the worst of them all. His evil truly knows no bounds.

My initial thought was “Charlie’s the good one, Dennis most evil,” but I am convinced. Frank ran sweatshops in Vietnam, where people died. This alone is probably more people than everyone Dennis has hypothetically killed. He’s willing to let his children be murdered by mobsters and pimps out his own son, and tried to pimp out his daughter as well. Frank is just as manipulative as Dennis, but he has the power to make his evil even further reaching. Oh, quasi-incest revenge banging, including the girl he knew Charlie, the one person he seems to care about, is obsessed with. Skimps on abortions, likely leading to Charlie’s birth. The artice didn’t go into it in as much depth, but the case can easily be made.

Yes..agree with Raven on this one…Dennis is a RAPIST!!!..Stalker….Sociopath, abuser!!..as evil goes…He is above all of these in this crew…In agreement with all replying to Raven on this one…I am glad I see others who see the same here.

I, too, read this article already firmly convinced that Dennis was a lock for #1, but HBO CEO of Tits just completely turned me with his case against Frank.

The far-reaching impact of Frank’s evil is pretty much overlooked. Dennis’ evil is pretty much limited to the sphere of his personal relationships, while Frank’s goes public and impacts the entire social sphere. I’d forgotten about sweatshops and all the businesses he’s ran.

Dennis is like the “John Rocker” jerkoff athlete who’s gets caught being a racist homophobe when he flaps his gums. A piece of shit, to be sure, but he’s got no power, and is only really harming the feeling of the people who associate with him. But Frank is like “Donald Sterling”, a guy who is also a personal scumbag, but who also has the power to impact and ruin people’s lives, a guy who financial and social institutions to discriminate against people. In the “Number of Lives Impacted Negatively” category, Dennis/Rocker can’t even touch Frank/Sterling.

But I guess the reason most of us fans feel that Dennis is #1 because the show dramatizes his sociopathy so often (and so hilariously). We kind of only just hear about all of Frank’s most terrible stuff, a lot of which happened in the past.

I agree. If someone asked me which character on IASIP would be most likely to masturbate to the thought of murdering someone, my answer would be Dennis, without hesitation. That has to make him the most evil. I could definitely see Frank being able to kill someone and not be remorseful, but I don’t think he’d get much pleasure out of the kill

“To be in someone’s mind. To have complete control. It’s like the thrill of being near the executioner’s switch. Knowing that at any moment, you could throw it, but knowing you never will…but you could, never isn’t the right word, because I could…and I might…I probably will.”

When I clicked there, I figured there was no way that Dennis wasn’t #1. You make a compelling case for Frank, but I still think it’s Dennis. I’d argue that Charlie is more evil than Mac, simply because Mac is frankly too stupid to be evil. But you’re implying that it’s basically a tie, so that’s fine. And of course Dee is right in the middle, where she spends most of her life.

Interesting with regards to Charlie being more evil than Mac. The best case for that I can see being made is when he slept with the rich girl just to make the waitress jealous. That monologue was dark and brilliant, and also showed how crazy he is because no sane single man gonna toss aside Alexandra Daddario.

Dennis willingly stole another man’s identity and prepared himself to presumably bang a teenage boy. He has a trunk full of zip ties and tools in addition to several outstanding warrants. He took Charlie referring to his demeanor as that of a serial killer as a compliment.

Frank is a scumbag who hangs out under a bridge, Dennis is evil to the point that I’m surprised Officer Solverson wasn’t after him instead of Malvo on Fargo.

Of course the guy that didn’t put Randy Marsh as the best secondary character on South Park would put Frank above Dennis. The Johnny Sugar formula is clearly, “Get the list almost right, but fuck up the top spot, just to drive commenting.”

In honor of D.E.N.N.I.S., it should be the S.U.G.A.R. System.
Start Writing a List
Understand the Topic (Mostly)
Get Most of it Right
Announce Number One as Number 2
Receive a Billion “You’re an Idiot” Comments

It’s close but I actually agree. Frank DID trick Dee into thinking that her mom buried all her money in her casket, then proceeded to help her dig it up to reveal her rotting corpse just to prove a point.

Dennis is seen driving around in his car listening to audio tapes of himself having sex with under age girls (as the tape is labeled) Was also willing to throw a “frame bang” the way of the lawyer… he only agreed not to after the lawyer pleaded for him to not rape his wife….. I love Dennis but pure evil

i tots agree with this list as is,on a surface level Dennis would be the obvious choice but once you dig deeper into what drives their motives it has to be Frank. Sociopaths do not know they are sociopaths and Dennis acts on pure narcissism. However Frank is totally self aware and chooses to be in the gang the gang did not choose him. He forsakes his mainstream albeit corporate lifestyle to transform from a Gordon Gekko jr. to pure manipulative filth.He chooses to live in squalor with Charlie even though he is worth millions….all by choice and with no consideration of the impact on others. His manipulation of the gang goes way beyond Dennis’ vanity, his deviousness is Machiavellian in nature and Dennis could only hope to achieve. Frank’s motives are not purely for self gain as the others but ,as the author mentions, what puts him over the top is that in addition to self preservation he seems intent on the detriment of others through pure manipulation.

-Nobody is stupid enough to think that your chair was dipped in gold, Frank, okay? Why am I helping you?
-Because I’m manipulating you.That’s the way I get people to do things for me.
-Really?
-Yeah.
-Shit, that’s awesome.
-How did you do that?
-If you make my chair look really nice, I will tell you.
-Deal.

Wife and I watched “Frank Reynolds’ Little Beauties” last night. That opening scene where Frank sprints into the bar, eats shit and crushes his nose? I found that funnier than the boat hijacking scene.

Frank is the most evil because he created Dennis and Dee. Sociopaths can develop because of environment. Dee and Dennis’ mental illnesses seem to be because of their terribly abusive parents. When Frank debuted he actually chose to live in squalor with Charlie and the gang. I don’t think he or his wife had any chemical imbalances/psychopathy or whatever which suggests that mental illness doesn’t run in the family. The parents were likely abused or neglected as kids, leading to the cycle of abuse that created Dennis and Dee.

I think most of the critics of this list are confusing quantity with quality. Dennis has more examples of deviant behavior but Franks deviant acts are more wide ranging,resourceful and impactful so he is number 1

The only way it’s not Dennis, is if it turns out Charlie is a secret genius who is just fucking with everyone for some sort of experiment. He acts dumb, but did anyone ever see his report card? No. Kind of like Pinky to everyone else’s Brain.

I might have to agree with Frank being the most evil, if only technically. A lot of people make the argument that Dennis is basically (if not probably) a serial killer, but they ultimately forget the episode where he and Dee had to decide whether or not to pull the plug on Grampa Reynolds. Dennis makes a whole big deal about being uncomfortable killing anything, let alone even a dog. (I always thought this episode was a bit out-of-character for the way Dennis had been heading, but they did it, so it’s canon now.) Meanwhile Frank carries a gun -everywhere.- He’s begging for the chance to kill someone. Technically more evil.

…not to mention, he got handjob from Gail the Snail. That’s just depraved. (Even if she was just mashing it.)

It’s been said about 100 times above me, but Dennis is far and away the worst. Frank sometimes gives off the impression that he cares about at least a few other people, but Dennis has never even seemed like he was willing to make someone else a priority

Dennis: We’re going to follow our victim, then we’re going to jump her. Then I’m going to strangle her and you’re going to chop her into pieces…(heavy breathing)
Dee: Yeah, but what are we really going to do?
Dennis: Huh?
Dee: We’re not really going to kill her…what are we going to do?
Dennis: Aw, yeah….ah shit, that’s a bummer.

I totally agree where Charlie is but I think Dennis should be number 1 for sure he is a total asshole who doesn’t care about anyone not even his own family. and with the rest you can’t even scale them because they all do stupid selfish things to each other which makes the show funny and entertaining to watch.

@Twinkie The Kid I think its pretty clear that it was Dennis and Dee’s vain, greedy, sociopathic mother who was the reason they turned out the way they did. If youll remember, Frank started out fairly normal at first, and it was the influence of the rest of the gang that caused him to choose to indulge his base urges and turn into the man of pure Id he has become.